Starting June 30th, Radio Bilingüe will air a series of interviews with master artists and performances as part of special coverage of the 2016 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington DC.
This year the Festival is headlining a special stream of performances –“Sounds of California” — celebrating the diverse sounds that shape California’s vibrant culture today, including the powerful impact on the state of the music of migration and communities in transition. “Sounds of California” will feature dozens of California musicians and performers, including immigrants, descendants of migrants, and first peoples of the state, who all contribute to shape California’s soundscape. Through concerts, discussions and interviews, performers will celebrate the heritage and contemporary influences of California communities including Afghan, Afro-Cuban, Armenian, Japanese, Kumeyaay, Mexican and others. Among the performers will be Afro-Caribbean music virtuosos John Santos and Gladys “Bobi” Céspedes; the indigenous Banda Brillo and Nuu Yuku/Danzantes Los Diablos de San Miguel Cuevas, Mexico; FandangObon mixing Mexican son jarocho music and a Japanese Buddhist ritual; and Homayun Sakhi and Salar Nader, Afghan musicians originally from Kabul.
For six consecutive days from June 30th to July 5th, Radio Bilingüe will produce and distribute fourteen hours of music concerts, conversations with artists, and dialogues with community leaders from the Festival on the National Mall. The programs will be available via satellite, webcast, and audio on demand (on www.radiobilingue.org). Details on the programming content and program schedule will be forthcoming. The programs have ideal potential for stations to consider including in whole or part during their Fourth of July weekend schedules.
These special broadcasts of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s “Sounds of California” offerings will be aired by Radio Bilingüe thanks to a collaboration with The Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and the Alliance for California Traditional Arts.
For more information, please contact María de Jesús Gómez, chuyag@legacy.radiobilingue.org, 559-455-5782.
